6 And told me that by Water I should die: Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded Thy name is Gualtier, being rightly founded. WHIT. Gualtier, or Walter, which it is, I care 6. not; • Ne'er yet did bafe difhonour blur our name," But with our fword we wip'd away the blot; 'Therefore, when merchantlike I fell revenge. Broke be my fword, my arms torn and defac'd, And I proclaim'd a coward through the world! [lays hold on Suffolk. SUF. Stay, Whitmore; for thy prifoner is a prince, The duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole. WHIT. The duke of Suffolk, muffled up in rags! SUF. Ay but these rags are no part of the duke; by Water-] So, in queen Margaret's letter to this duks of Suffolk, by Michael Drayton; "I pray thee, Poole, have care how thou doft pass, T "And one foretold, by water thou fhould'ft die," &c. A note on thefe lines fays, "The witch of Eye received answer from her fpirit, that the duke of Suffolk fhould take heed of water." See the fourth fcene of the firft a& of this play. STEEVENS. 7 Ne'er yet did bafe dishonour &c,] This and the following lines are founded on these two in the old play: "And therefore ere I merchant-like fell blood for gold, The new image which Shakspeare has introduced into this fpeech, is found alfo in King torn and defac'd," Richard II: my arms -- "From my own windows torn my household coat, See the notes on that paffage. Vol. XII. p. 82, n. 2, and 3. MALONE, Jove fometime went difguis'd, And why not I?* CAP. But Jove was never flain, as thou fhalt be. • SUF. Obfcure and lowly fwain, king Henry's blood, The honourable blood of Lancaster, 9 Muft not be fhed by fuch a jaded groom. Haft thou not kifs'd thy hand, and held my stirrup Bareheaded plodded by my foot-cloth mule, And thought thee happy when I fhook my head? How often haft thou waited at my cup, • Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the board, • When I have feafted with queen Margaret? * Remember it, and let it make thee creft-fall'n; 3 8 Jove Sometime went difguis'd, &c.] This verse is omitted in all but the firft old edition, [quarto 1600, ] without which what follows is not fenfe. The next line alfo : Obfcure and lowly fwain, king Henry's blood, was falfely put in the Captain's mouth. POPE. 9 lowly fwain,] The folio reads-lowfy fwain. STEEVENS. The quarto lowly. In a fubfequent paffage the folio has the word right: 2 By fuch a lowly vaffal as thy felf. Lowfy was undoubtedly an errour of the prefs. MALONE. a jaded groom.] I fuppofe he means a low fellow, fit only to attend upon horfes; which in our author's time were frequently termed jades. The original play has jady, which conveys this meaning (the only one that the words feem to afford, ) more clearly, jaded being liable to an equivoque. Jaded groom, however, may mean a groom whom all men treat with contempt; as worthless as the moft paltry kind of horfe. So, in K. Henry VIII: แ if we live thus tamely, "To be thus jaded by a piece of scarlet,"– MALONE. A jaded groom may fignify a groom who has hitherto been treatied with no greater ceremony than a horse. STEEVENS. 3 abortive pride: ] Pride that has had birth too foon, pride ffuing before its time. JOHNSON. * How in our voiding lobby haft thou ftood, *And duly waited for my coming forth? 4 This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf, •And therefore fhall it charm thy riotous tongue. *WHIT. Speak, captain, fhall I ftab the forlorn fwain? *CAP. First let my words ftab him, as he hath me. *SUF. Bafe flave! thy words are blunt, and fo art thou. CAP. Convey him hence, and on ourlong-boat's fide 4 charm thy riotous tongue.] i. e. reftrain thy licentious talk; compel thee to be filent. See. Vol. IX. p. 326, n. 2. and Mr. Steeven's note in Othello, A& V. fc. ult. where Iago uses the fame expreffion. It occurs frequently in the books of our author's age. MALONE. Again, in the Third Part of this Play, A& V. fc. iii: "Peace, wilful boy, or I will charm your tongue." STEEVENS. 5 Thou dar'ft not &c.] In the quarto edition the paffage ftands thus: Suf. Thou dar'ft not for thy own. Cap. Yes, Pole? Suf. Pole? Cap. Ay, Pole, puddle, kennel, fink and dirt, I'll flop that yawning mouth of thine. I think the two intermediate speeches fhould be inserted in the text, to introduce the captain's repetition of Poole, &c. STEEVENS. It is clear from what follows that these speeches were not intended to be rejected by Shakspeare, but accidentally omitted at the prefs. I have therefore reftored them. MAlone. CAP. Poole? Sir Poole? lord? Ay, kennel, puddle, fink; whofe filth and dirt Troubles the filver fpring where England drinks. Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth, 7 For fwallowing the treafure of the realm: Thy lips, that kifs'd the queen, shall sweep the ground; And thou, that fmil'dft at good duke Humphrey's Against the fenfeless winds fhalt grin in vain, 9 *Who, in contempt, fhall hifs at thee again: 2 Poole? Sir Poole? lord?] The diffonance of this broken line makes it almoft certain that we should read with a kind of ludicrous climax : Poole? Sir Poole? lord Poole? He then plays upon the name Poole, kennel, puddle. JOHNSON. to prevent thy 66 - he is now in 7 For fwallowing — ] He means, perhaps, so as fwallowing, &c. So, in The Puritan, 1607: huckfter's handling for running away." I have met with many other inftances of this kind of phrafeology. The more obvious interpretation, however, may be the true one. MALONE. And thou, that fmil'dft at good duke Humphrey's death, &c.] This enumeration of Suffolk's crimes feems to have been fuggefted by The Mirrour of Magiftrates, 1575, Legend of William de la Pole: "And led me back again to Dover road, "Where unto me recounting all my faults,— "As murthering of duke Humphrey in his bed, "There was no grace but I muft lofe my head." - MALONE. - fhalt grin in vain,] From hence to the end of this speech is undoubtedly the original compofition of Shakspeare, no traces of it being found in the elder play. MALONE. 2 the fenfelefs winds – Who, in contempt, fhall his at thee again: ] The fame worthlefs image occurs also in Romeo and Juliet: the winds "Who, nothing hurt withal, his'd him in fcorn." STEEVENS, * And wedded be thou to the hags of hell, *For daring to affy a mighty lord 2 * Unto the daughter of a worthlefs king, * With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart. * By thee, Anjou and Maine were fold to France: The falfe revolting Normans, thorough thee, *Difdain to call us lord; and Picardy * Hath flain their governors, furpriz'd our forts, * And fent the ragged foldiers wounded home. * The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,*Whofe dreadful fwords were never drawn in vain, 3 *As hating thee, are rifing up in arms: * And now the houfe of York- -thruft from the crown, *By fhameful murder of a guiltless king, * Burns with revenging fire; whofe hopeful colours "Which after to the earl of Anjou was affy'd." Steevens. the Almaine emperor's bride 4 whofe hopeful colours Advance our half-fac'd fun.] "Edward III. bare for his device the rays of the fun difperfing themselves out of a cloud.", Camden's Remaines. MALONE. |